Refining apparatus



Dec. 19, 1950 R. H. FAsH REFINING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 27, 1942 Patented Dec. 19, 1950 REFINING APPARATUS Ralph H. Fash, Fort Worth, Tex., assigner, by mesne assignments, to Anderson, Clayton & Co., Houston, Tex., a corporation of Delaware Original application February 27, 1942, Serial No.

432,719. Divided and this application December 28, 1943, Serial No. 515,951

Claims.

In my copending application, Serial No. 432,719, led February2'7, 1942 now Patent No. 2,342,042, dated February 15, 1944, of which the present aplication is a division, I have disclosed a method of reilning glyceride oils based on the mixing of the oil and a refining agent in a disintegrated condition, a mist condition being particularly emphasized. According to the present application, the oil and refining agent are mixed in a disintegrated condition, that is, in spray form, mixing continuing while'the substances ilow on a heated surface to have an emulsion breaking temperature imparted thereto. I use the term spray as including not only mists or aerosols but also a coarser state o1' subdivision involving, for example, drops or globules of substantial size, and films. While the results obtained in accordance with the present application by no means vequal those obtainable by my preferred mist-mixing procedure, particularly `as regards color removal, they are nevertheless superior to those obtainable by present liquid-mixing procedures as regards refining loss. The object of the invention is, then. to provide method and apparatus for rening glyceride oils whereby a lower refining loss is obtainable than in the use of present day liquidmixing procedures. The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation of apparatus in accordance with the invention, and

Figure 2 is an axial section of a delivery nozzle which appears in Figure l.

Referring to the drawing, reference numeral 5 designates a length of pipe disposed in vertical position. the pipe being. for example, four inches in diameter and eight feet in length. In the upper end of the pipe a nozzle B is supported on the axis of the pipe by means of a number of screws 1 and 8 threaded radially in openings in p the pipe walls.

The nozzle 6 comprises a tubular nozzle body 9 having parallel inlet openings I0 and ll into which are threaded pipes l2 and I3 which deliver, respectively, a solution of a rening agent, ordinarily a caustic alkali, and the oil to be reiined. The supply is accurately controlled by dow meters in the manner described in the parent application.

ill

The opening i0 connects with a chamber I4 having a bottom wall I5 with a threaded central opening in which is threaded a downwardly pro- Jecting coaxial tube i6. A tip l1 is threaded co- 2 a discharge opening I8. A tip IS is engaged internally with the lower end of tube l 6 and is provided with spiral ilns 2D which extend outwardly to the inner surfaces of tip l1.

Threaded on the tip l1 is a coaxial extension 2l on the lower end of whichis threaded an adapter 22 carrying a hollow plug 23 defining a discharge opening 24. In the use of the thus constituted nozzle the caustic solution and oil are momentarily merged in liquid condition above the opening 24 and the mixture emerges from the latter as a hollow cone spray.

As shown in Figure l, at least a portion of the spray is deflected by the walls of the pipe 5. and, in order to return this deflected portion to the surface of the pipe, I provide an upwardly pointed conical baille 25 which is supported within the pipe by means of brackets 26 with its lower edge closely adjacent the pipe walls. Below baille 25 the total mixture ilows down the pipe walls as a film or thin layer wherein mixing continues and uniformity ,is achieved.

The pipe 5 is surrounded by a jacket 2l from its lower endup to a point above the zone of nozzle discharge and a heating fluid is circulated in the jacket from an inlet pipe l2li to an outlet pipe 29, the heating of the pipe being such that as the oilcaustic solution mixture flows down the pipe the emulsion which forms is broken by the time the lower end of the pipe is reached. As the broken emulsion leaves the pipe it strikes and ilows from an upwardly pointed conical baille 30, supported from the pipe by brackets 3l, into a receiver l2 which drains into a centrifuge 33 through a pipe 34. the refined oil leaving the centrifuge at 35 and the soapstock at 36. The baille is for the purpose of preventing such entrance of air at the bottom of the pipe as would cause undue fluctuations in the temperature of the mixture. The bottom of the baille has a diameter substantially greater than that of the pipe and the baille surface is quite close to the lower edge of the pipe.

The describedprocedure gives a low rening loss as compared with ordinary liquid mixing, batch or continuous, although the color of the rened oil will ordinarily be dark. Re-retlning to obtain a light-colored product can be carried out by the mist-mixing procedure of the parent application. As specied in that application, the caustic alkali refining agent is used in an amount slightly greater than that theoretically required -to neutralize the free fatty acids in the oil so that there will be unconsumed caustic present at the time of separation whereby a high pH, i. e.,

81.11141! on the lower end of the body l and defines the pH ci the caustic. is maintained up to separa.

tion. While the excess is variable, as described in the said parent application, as therein stated I can ordinarily use an excess of the order of 0.2%.

If the extension elements 2i, 22 and 23 are omitted, a full cone spray will be delivered but the baille 25 will still insure total delivery to the inner wal1s`of the pipe. If a nozzle were used which delivered, for example, a more or lessv solid axial stream, baille 25 would serve also as a disintegrator delivering to the pipe surface. These and other variations in procedure or apparatus are contemplated under the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. Apparatus forrening glycerlde oils comprising an upright tubular member, means for delivering the oil and an alkaline refining agent in disintegrated condition against the interior surface of said member so that mixture of the voil and agent will occur as they ow down said surface, and means for heating said surface so that as the mixture flows down the same the emulsion which forms will be broken.

2. Apparatus for rening glyceride oils comprising an upright tubular member, nozzle means for delivering a hollow cone spray of the oil and of an alkaline refining agent against the interior surface of said member so that mixture of the oil and agent will occur as they flow down said surface, and means for heating said surface so that as the mixture iiows down the same the emulsion which forms will be broken.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the nozzle means is constituted by a multi-mild nozzle wherein the oil and agent are merged.

RALPH H. FASE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 342,692 Grant May 25, 1886 1,218,250 Fox Mar. 6, 1917 1,405,707 Beers Feb. 7, 1922 1,447,898 Schlosstein Mar. 6, 1923 1,650,514 Hildebrand Nov. 22, 1927 2,141,794 King Dec. 27, 1938 2,150,733 Thurman Mar. 14, 1939 2,219,968 Thurman Oct. 29, 1940 2,319,970 Bloomer et al May 25, 1943 2,341,536 Fash Feb. 15, 1944 2,342,042 Fash Feb. 15, 1944 

